If you're a dentist, a dental hygienist, a dental assistant, or even a plumber or a waiter, my question is: do you consider yourself a professional athlete? Because we are. We're professionals; we get paid for doing something, and that's what a professional is—we get paid for giving a service. As dentists and people who work in health care, we're particularly prone to back pain, neck pain, and all sorts of physical ailments. That's part of the reason why we have disability insurance. Did you know that close to 80% of all dentists suffer from chronic back and neck pain? I'm one of those dentists. I hurt my back when I was in my 20s, and I've had back pain from that time up until about eight or nine years ago. It finally ended, thank God. I found out what I needed to do to take better care of myself. I tried to take good care of myself, but it wasn't working.

Why do I make such a big deal about this? Because a lot of dentists don't realize the importance of taking great care of their bodies. Have you seen people who do a lot of dentistry? Most of them are in pretty good shape. But most dentists do suffer. They say dentists are always on the golf course. I don't understand why they say that, because most dentists have bad backs, and it's hard to swing a golf club when your back isn't very good. But I strongly believe in taking great care of the body. Luckily for me, I enjoy doing it—I enjoy working out, going to the gym, and doing all those things. It's sort of a passion of mine, but for many people, it's not.

We are in the healthcare profession; we take care of others. We are caregivers, and it's hard work. We're leaning over people, we have instruments in our hands, we're turning like this, we're bending over—it’s hard to get into those little dark spaces. Plus, we have the stress of being close to another human being who's in pain, and we have to produce while going from room to room to room. Dentistry is a very difficult job, and it's physically very demanding. If I knew it was going to be this demanding, would I still become a dentist? Yeah, probably yes, but I would have taken better care of myself earlier in my career.

So, what do I think you need to do? Most certainly, the simple things—you need to eat right. I’m not going to go over what that means, because I'm not a dietitian, but you need to take good care of yourself and try to keep your weight at a reasonable level, because the more weight you put on, the more stress you're going to have on your back and neck when you're leaning over.

You should also exercise, and that requires both lifting weights and aerobic activity. We start to lose muscle mass as soon as we exit our 20s, if not earlier. I always say, you want to exit your 40s looking as good as you did when you entered them, or basically, when you're 30. That's when things start to break down. So when you're 39, you want to look almost as good as you did when you were 30, if that's possible, because that's when the metabolism starts to slow. We get very busy, we start to have families, and we start to experience the stress of running a business. So, in our 30s, a lot of us start to break down. You have to run, bike, swim—whatever it is that keeps you moving.

Weightlifting is important to maintain your strength. We have to use our muscles, and our muscles won’t give back unless we work them. It does require some discipline. How much weight should you lift? Well, that's going to vary, but you should be doing some intense workouts, perhaps with a trainer, perhaps at a gym—whatever you want to do. But on a daily basis, something should be done. I recommend at least two weight training workouts a week. Aerobics should also be done.

I was a long-distance runner for many years, which was probably not the best thing for my back. I used to do triathlons, but I had to stop running when I was 56, about 15 years ago. I can't run much anymore because my lower back gets sore. So I overdid it. Long-distance running, unless you have a body that's really meant for it, is probably not the best thing to do for a long period of time. Although from a personal perspective, it was a lot of fun—just like my friends who were ex-football players who played at a high level. They said, "I loved playing, but my body's paying the price now." I always ask them, "Would you play again?" and they say, "Definitely."

As a dentist, I need to take care of my body. Luckily, I wasn’t a football player, so I haven’t had any joint replacements, but I was a long-distance athlete. I leaned over patients for the last 40-plus years, and I ride a bike leaning over, which puts a lot of wear and tear on the body. So, I still do aerobics, but not as much pounding as I used to. I'm still on a bike, I use a Peloton, I use an exercise trainer—it’s not too traumatic on my body. I also get into the swimming pool. Aerobics are important because you've got to maintain some aerobic ability, and it also keeps your muscles going.

What I’ve done more recently is a lot more stretching. I've always been someone who did martial arts or yoga, but recently I’ve had to up the amount of stretching I do. I continue to stretch on a daily basis. In the office, I even have some yoga blocks, a roller, and balls—things I can use to stretch. Probably once every hour or two, I try to do something to move around because it's very easy to get locked into long procedures. Stretching is important.

Meditation, of course, is also important to decrease stress. We're in a very high-stress business. If you don't like to meditate, you can pray. If you don't like to pray, you can just walk in the woods by yourself—do something outside in nature. You can do yoga. There are many different ways to find peace. If you don’t want to do it alone, maybe your significant other will go with you, or you can get a group of friends to go, or you can join a gym. I actually just took up Taekwondo again. I hadn’t done martial arts in 19 years, but I saw these little kids doing it at the gym, and I thought, "I’ll never be that acrobatic," but it’s very challenging.

One of the things I've noticed as I've gotten older is that my memory doesn’t work as well. With Taekwondo, you have to remember things, and it’s been helpful. I think my short-term memory is coming back. Long-term memory is still working fine, but short-term memory has improved a little bit. It also helps with balance. One of the things that takes people out as they get older, besides heart disease and cancer, is falls. As we age, you know, you get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. You’re healthy, but one fall in the bathroom can be one of the most dangerous things. So, balance is very important, and also because we get so tight from doing dentistry, we need to work those muscles and develop proprioception, which tends to wane as we get older.

So, diet—of course, don’t be overweight. Do some weight training a couple of times a week, and stay active. The mindfulness training is important, and so is sleep. I wear an Oura Ring to track my sleep, and I’ve been doing that for six years. I get competitive with myself—if I don’t get over a 90, I think I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. When I was younger, I used to brag, "I don’t need much sleep, I can go on four hours." Well, that’s not a good thing to do. Nobody can go on little sleep. Some people say they can, but the reality is that we need sleep. Our bodies have to repair physically, psychologically, and spiritually, and I try to get a good night’s sleep every night.

If you're not taking great care of yourself, start. I've talked to a lot of people, especially young people in their 30s, who say, "I don't have time, I’m too busy." Well, if you don’t make time for yourself, no one else will give you that gift. What do I recommend if you can't find any time? Well, at 5:30 in the morning, not much is happening. People say, "But that means I have to get up early." Yes, it does mean you have to go to bed early. My suggestion is always that at 5:30, the phone isn’t going to be ringing, and you can get a lot done. As a matter of fact, I have one employee, Karen, who comes into the office around 6:00 in the morning. She lives an hour away, but no matter what time I get in there, she's working on the computer. I asked her, "What are you doing?" and she said, "It’s the only time I can get something done." I told my son, who recently had a baby and has been really busy, "I know what it’s like to be in your 30s, busy at work with a young family. Those are your busiest times, but that’s the time when you have to grab the mask when it drops, and what do they say? Put it on yourself first